1. Water Filters
Tap water filters trickled down from NASA's need to cleanse water on long space flights.
Water is the essential ingredient to human survival. Since people cannot live without water, the ability to convert contaminated water to pure water is an incredibly important scientific achievement.
Astronauts needed a way to cleanse water they take up into space, since bacteria and sickness would be highly problematic. Water filter technology had existed since the early 1950s, but NASA wanted to know how to clean water in more extreme situations and keep it clean for longer periods of time.
If you look at a water filter, you can usually detect small chunks of charcoal inside of them. Sometimes, when you first use a water filter, you'll even notice tiny black flecks from those chunks. This charcoal is specially activated and contains silver ions that neutralize pathogens in the water. Along with killing bacteria in the water, the filters also prevent further bacterial growth. Companies have borrowed from this same technology to bring us the water filter systems millions of people use at home every day.
2. Cordless Tools
When you're sucking up bits of dirt or crumbs around the house with a handheld cordless vacuum, you are actually using the same technology that astronauts used on the moon. Although Black & Decker had already invented the first battery-powered tools in 1961 [source: NASA], the NASA-related research helped refine the technology that led to lightweight, cordless medical instruments, hand-held vacuum cleaners and other tools.
In the mid-1960s, to prepare for the Apollo missions to the moon, NASA needed a tool that astronauts could use to obtain samples of rocks and soil. The drill had to be lightweight, compact and powerful enough to dig deep into the surface of the moon. Since rigging up a cord to a drill in outer space would be a difficult feat, NASA and Black & Decker invented a battery-powered, magnet-motor drill [source: NASA Science and Technology Information]. Working in the context of a limited space environment, Black & Decker developed a computer program for the tool that reduced the amount of power expended during use to maximize battery life.
After the NASA project, Black & Decker applied the same principles to make other lightweight, battery-powered tools for everyday consumers.
3. Safety Grooving
Safety grooves provide safety on airport runways by increasing the friction between the concrete and airplane tires.
Carving a gro¬ove into concrete may not sound like much of an innovation, but it certainly keeps us safe on the roads. Also called safety grooving, this simple, yet lifesaving, process inserts long, shallow channels into pavement on runways and roads. These indentions in the concrete divert excess water from the surface to reduce the amount of water between tires and the runway or road. This increases the friction between wheels and concrete, improving vehicle safety.
Safety grooving was first experimented with at NASA's Langely Research Center in the 1960s as a way to improve safety for aircraft taking off on wet runways. Once people realized how well it worked, transportation engineers began applying the same techniques to highways. According to NASA, safety grooving has reduced highway accidents by 85 percent [source: NASA]. Cars hydroplane when water between tires and the road actually separates the two from each other.
You can find other examples of safety grooving at pedestrian crosswalks, around swimming pools and in animal pens. This innovation has generated an entire industry, represented by the International Grooving & Grinding Association
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